Grape (Vitis spp.

)
 Origin and distribution
 Viticulture: the art and science of growing grapes
 Long-term perennial, support requiring plant (vine) so
grape is the fruit of a woody climbing vine
 The exact origin of the grape is not really known,
although many believe it to be Asia Minor, the Caspian
Sea region or Armenia

 The grape is one of the oldest cultivated fruits in the

world, dating back to the earliest civilizations.
 Origin and distribution cont’d…
 While some suggest that grapes go back 7000 years to western
Asia
 Wine making in Egypt dated back about 5000-6000 yrs
 It reached to Ethiopia with Christianity in the 4th A.D. but its
production started lately
 Modern wine yards were established by foreigner before 50 years
(Italian and Greeks).
 The Portuguese are said to have cultivated grape in Gondar in the
16thC and then after sporadic cultivation has been reported.
 Origin and distribution cont’d…
 It is deciduous crops of warm temperate regions which grows
predominantly from 20-400

 Production of grape under tropics is possible under a certain

conditions
Choosing suitable cultivars
Applying suitable management practices
Defoliation
Holding irrigation water continuously
Application of chemicals
 Origin and distribution cont’d…

• The main problem is its flower production which

needs lower temperature
• The leading producers are Italy, Switzerland, Spain,
France, Turkey etc
• In Ethiopia its production is found in Ziway, Dukam,
Guder, Merti, Abadir, Nura Era etc
 Uses & composition
Like most berries, grapes have a lot of nutritive value as
highlighted below:
• Important vitamins such as vitamin A, B1, B2, B6 and C are
found in grapes.
• Grapes also contain acids such as tartaric acids, malic acids,
succinic, fumaric, glyceric, p-coumaric and caffeic acids.
• Grapes have important anti-oxidants such as anthocyanins,
flavones, geraniol, linalol, nerol and tannins.
• Grapes contain all the necessary minerals such as Ca, Cl, Cu,
F, Fe, Mg, Mn, P, K, Si andS.
February 27, 2024 7
 Taxonomy and morphology of Grape

 Belongs to the family Vitaceae and genus Vitis

• Classification of grape based on their origin
1. Vitis vinifera (French grape)-European type
 90 % world production belong to such group
 Grown for wine making
2. Vitis labrusa (America grape)
 Grown mainly where there is frost problem
 Grown for juice, wine, table grape but wine
made is inferior to the first one
Taxonomy and morphology cont’d…
3. Vitis rotundifolia (the muscadines)
 French-American hybrids
 Tolerant to hot condition
 Used for fresh consumption and canning
 Native to gulf of Mexico
There are several other American species which
have regional importance or used in breeding
purpose for disease and frost resistance.
 Taxonomy and morphology cont’d
 Commercial class of grape (depending upon their purpose)

1. Table grapes
 for fresh consumption

 Used for fresh market (food or decoration)

 Attractive in appearance (shape, size, color)

 Good eating quality

 Good shipping quality

 tend to have large, seedless fruit with relatively thin skin.

2. Raisin grapes
 Produce acceptable dry product

 Should be seedless

 Have good flavor

 Soft texture
 Taxonomy and morphology cont’
3. Wine grapes
 used for wine making
 are smaller, usually seeded, and have relatively thick skins (a
desirable characteristic in wine making, since much of the
aroma in wine comes from the skin).
 by far the most expensive use of grape is in producing wine.
 There are two types of wines:
 Table wine (dry or dinner wine)
• Contain <14% alcohol
• Produced from grape moderately high sugar content and
relatively high acidity
 Dessert wine (Appetizer or sweet)
• Contain > 14 % alcohol (17-20%)
• Produced from grape of high sugar content and low acidity.
"White" table grape

Raisin Wine grapes on the vine

 Taxonomy and morphology cont’d
4. Juice grapes (Sweet juice grapes)
Those juice grapes produce an acceptable beverage
when it is preserved by pasteurization or other
processes.
For making sweet juice, it necessary to maintain the
natural fresh grape flavor through preservation.
5. Canning grapes
Grape canned in combination with other fruits.
seedless,.
Grape juice
 Taxonomy and morphology cont’d…
 Plant: a liana or woody vine.
 Leaves: are often large sometimes deeply lobed as in
many cultivars, or rounded with entire or serrate
margins.
 Tendrils occur opposite levels at nodes.
 Flower: are small, borne in racemose panicles
 Fruit: are berries, with 2 to 4 seeds
 Taxonomy and morphology cont’d…
Like other higher plants the vine has different
parts
1. The root system.
 About 1/3 of the dry weight of a grape tree comprises of
the root system.
 The roots spread over a wide area, penetrating the soil
up to a depth of 6 – 12 feet in soils of favorable texture.
 The bulk of the root are usually confound to the upper
60 – 150 cm surface soil.
2. The shoot system
 Comprises the above ground parts of the vine and
 these are: trunk, arms, shoots (cane when mature),
the leaves, tendrils and fruits.
 Taxonomy and morphology cont’d…
 Trunk: the main un-branched body (stem) of the vine.
 It grows only in diameter.
 Arm: permanent division of the vine arising from or along the
top of the trunk.
 The arms bear the spur and canes.
 Head: the region of the trunk from which arms or canes arise.
 Shoot: succulent growth arising from a bud.
 It has the growing tip, nodes, internodes, buds, tendrils and
laterals.
 Taxonomy and morphology cont’d…
Cane: dormant shoot that has become woody, mature and
dropped its leaves.

Spur: the basal portions of a cane cut back to 1-4 nodes in

length.

The buds: normally developed at each node just above the

leaf (in the leaf axil).

Leaf buds: it is a rudimentary sterile shoots i.e.

 it elongates into a shoot that bears only leaves and tendrils.

Fruit bud: contains a shoot having both rudimentary leaves

a) Trunk (main stem) b) Arm c) Shoots (bearing unit,
canes)
Fig. A shoot elongated from fruit bud (fertile bud)
 Taxonomy and morphology cont’d…
The buds of the vine may be classified
according to
The nature of the structures they contain
i. Leaf bud – elongates into a sterile shoot
ii. Fruit bud- elongates into fruitful shoot
Their position on the shoot or arm
i. Basal buds
ii. Middle buds
iii. Apical buds
Fig. Grape bud (node) - nearly sprouting
 Taxonomy and morphology cont’d…
Flower
 Types of flower
Hermaphrodite –Self-fruitful
Female (Pistillate) – Self unfruitful
Male (Staminate) – Self unfruitful

a b c
Figure . Flower types in grapes:
(a) Hermaphrodite, (b) Female, and (c) Male
 Grape Cultivars

The four main varieties of local grapes in

Ethiopia are
“Tekur” (black)
“Nech Debulbul” (white round)
 “Kai Debulbul” (Red round)
“Nech shul” (White oval)- not much
recommended
 Cultivars cont’d…
The other commercially known varieties of
grape are
Anab-e-Shahi, (Table grape) –white
Carignane, red (wine grape)
Thomson seedless, white (Raisin grape)
Grenache, red (wine grape)
Rulaender, white (wine grape)
 Grape Ecological Requirements
Exit exam Blu print

Altitude
 The top altitude limit for commercial production is
2000masl, above these there is frost damage

 From 1800 to 2000 m only one crop/year can produced

 Below about 1,700 m temperature is high enough to

enable two crops/year because the growing period is
shorter but supplementary irrigation is essential
 Table. Vineyard locations in Ethiopia and their altitude
and amount of rainfall per year.
No. Place Altitude (m) Rain (mm)
1 Abider 900 326
2 Dukem 2000 785
3 Guder 1800-2000 750-800
4 Ziway 1640 680-970
5 Nura era 950-1000 540
6 Merti 950-1000 540
 Ecological Req’ts
Temperature
 The optimum temperature condition for grapes are
where mean temperature fall between 20 – 25 oC

 Grapes grown in cooler climates are reported to be

better quality for wine making

because they develop good color and higher

tannin content

 At warmer area they produce more TSS

 Ecological Req’ts
Heat summation (Degree days / Heat index)
 the total amount heat received that
determines the ripening time of gape berries

HS = (X - 10 0C)t
 Where 10 0C is base temperature
x- mean monthly temperature
t- number of days/months
 Maximum total heat summation => High mean
temperature => short crop duration

 Minimum total heat summation => low mean

 Ecological Req’ts cont’d…
Soil
 Can be grown on most soil types provided there
is good drainage

 No impermeable layer within a minimum depth

of 1.3m below the surface

 Deep loamy with good structure

 pH – the ideal pH is between 6.5 & 7.5

 Grape crop husbandry
Blu print for Exit exam

Propagation
Seed – for breeding purpose

Stem cutting (Hardwood)

Layering (simple layering)

 Budding (Chip budding)

 Grafting (wedge, splice, cleft)

 Crop husbandry cont’d…
 Propagation by stem cutting (hardwood)
Common method in Ethiopia
 Simple & cheap

Cutting should be of medium diameter and about

30cm long

Cutting should be taken from healthy, vigorous and

high yielding mother plants

Cutting should be prepared on the same day as the

mother plant is pruned and packed in plastic bags
 Crop husbandry cont’d…
Planting
Spacing (depends mainly on)
 Vine vigour
 Training system
 Pruning method to be followed
 Fertility level of the soil & climatic factor
•2x2m
• 2 x 1.5 m
• 2.5 x 1.5 m
 Crop husbandry cont’d…
Support and training system
 Generally grapes require support throughout their
life and this adds considerable cost of production

 A great varieties of support and training is in use in

different grape producing countries

Trellise (support provision)

 Temporary or permanent
 3 - 4 wire trellise system for supporting bilateral
cordon
 Crop husbandry cont’d…
Training
 aims at giving proper shape
Maximize production, facilitate cultural operations
 The growth of grape is influenced by apical
dominance
 The training of vine starts from the very day of
planting and needs close follow-up by trained staff.

 During this time all laterals have to be removed,

leaving one leading shoot trained straight upward the
stake.
There are different systems.
 Crop husbandry cont’d…
I. Head system
 the vine trained up to a height of 1 – 1.3m where a
head is formed by pinching the shoot,
 least expensive and best suited for less vigorous
variety.
 Close spacing is common.
II. Trellis system (cordon)
 It is only suitable for varieties which require spur or
short cane pruning and which are of moderate vigor.
 Unilateral- if development of the arm is in one
direction
 Bilateral- if its growth is on both directions.
A head-trained grapevine that is cane pruned.
A bilateral cordon grapevine that is spur
pruned.
 Crop husbandry cont’d…
III. Telephone trellis system
 This rather expensive system is recommended for vigorous
varieties which require a long cane pruning.

 High yield can be obtained by this method with successful crop

protection.

 Shoots should be trained on the middle wire and are cut to

develop arms.

 Then the shoots are oriented to develop arms.

IV. Arbor system

Arbor training system
 Crop husbandry cont’d…
Pruning
Procedures:
 Thinning out
 Heading back
 Rejuvenation
Objectives:
 To help establish & maintain the vine in a form that
will save labor & facilitate vineyard operations
 To distribute the bearing wood over the vine, among
vines, and over the years in accordance with the
capacity of the spurs ( or canes) & vines
 To lessen or eliminate thinning in the control of crop
 Crop husbandry cont’d…
Pruning methods
Depending on position of fertile buds
1. Spur pruning
Recommended for varieties which have their most
fertile buds at the basal part of the canes

Fully mature canes are pruned to two buds spur

which distributed regularly all over the plant

Successful in tropical viticulture since apical

dominance is not very pronounced
Spur pruning (2 buds)
 Crop husbandry cont’d…
2. Short cane pruning
Recommended for varieties which have their most
fertile buds at the middle part of the canes

Fully mature canes are pruned to 4-8 buds

More suitable for varieties of “Shinin blanck” and

Tikur
Short cane pruning (4 – 8 buds)
 Crop husbandry cont’d…
3. Long cane pruning
 Recommended for varieties which have their most
fertile buds at the apical part of the canes

 It is very difficult to manage because of apical

dominance

 Fully mature canes are pruned to 8-12 buds

 It suitable for variety of Thompson seedless

Long cane pruning (8-12 buds)
 Pests of Grape
Major diseases
Downy mildew
Powdery mildew
Cluster botrytis rot
Anthracnose
Insects and other pests
Aphids, termite, mealy bugs, scale insects,
Flea beetle, thrips, mites etc.
Nematode (Root-knot)
Birds
Harvest and post-harvest handling
Determination of stage of maturity
 Depends (mainly) on their end use

TSS (Degree Brix)

 Table grapes -----------16 oBrix
 Raisins------------------18-20
 Light white wine------ 17-18
 Heavy red wine -------22-23
 The end of Course !

Thank You!!!